Pink Pepto-bismol.RTM. liquid, which has bismuth subsalicylate as its active ingredient, is popular among consumers for quick relief of heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea, and nausea. Some consumers, though, do not like the taste or feel of such a liquid in their mouths, nor do they wish to chew a tablet with a similar taste. A swallowable tablet would be ideal for those consumers, but it is technically difficult to formulate and make a swallowable, bismuth-containing tablet which will give quick relief. To be valued by consumers, such a tablet must break up quickly in the stomach so that the active ingredient is absorbed into the blood rapidly enough to provide quick relief. An especially preferred, swallowable, bismuth-containing solid dose form provides relief from symptoms in about the same amount of time as liquid Pepto-bismol.RTM. takes to provide relief.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,197, Bolt et al, issued Jul. 6, 1993, describes a chewable tablet which includes a medicament in a chewable base such as mannitol and an effervescent couple such as citric acid-sodium bicarbonate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,714, Kuhrts, issued Mar. 17, 1992 describes a prolonged dosage composition consisting essentially of a gel-forming dietary fiber, a biologically absorbable drug or other therapeutic agent, and certain disintegrants, namely, a physiologically acceptable edible acid and a mineral salt which release a physiologically acceptable gas upon ingestion.